Parents can Bring Their Advocates to School Meetings in Ontario

Sally, a parent of a child with a physical disability,  asked me to attend the school meeting with her last week so that I could advocate on her behalf.

Unlike Canadian born parents who are unafraid to question and challenge the school's actions, the majority of immigrant parents trust and respect the school decisions and rarely question them. Though most schools are effective schools in Ontario, there are some schools that are not always doing their best to observe and report the learning needs of their students. In schools where a high proportions of immigrant children are in attendance and schools not being watched closely by parents, some teachers and support staff can get away of doing their minimum.

Such as the case at this York District elementary school. At that school meeting, we requested to see her son's school record ( called the OSR - Ontario Student Record) and discovered that the school neglected the recommendation and referral made by J.'s kindergarten class teacher in 2009. Consequently, J, was left on his own without any physio or occupational therapies as recommended.

J. has been left without a lot of support on his own dealing with his physical disability. As a result, he is a very quiet student, lack of confidence about himself, always trying to hide his disabled hand under layers of clothing.

Surprisingly when we asked the principal for social worker assistance, and for J. to be formally identified, the parent was told that she could not do so as there was no social worker on site at the school.  But I know how the schools work in Ontario. Every school is assigned a social worker, he/ she may not be stationing at that school full time, but students can always access the service of a social worker when parents request that help. Knowing this fact, I challenged the school principal and advocated services for J.

Because J.'s mother brought an advocate ( me) to the meeting with the principal, she was able to get the school and the board set in motion to arrange the help that her son badly needs.

Ontario parents, please know that it's your right to bring an advocate with you to the school meetings if you feel that your child is not getting the services he/ she needs. There is a lot of extra support and assistance provided by Ontario schools, but parents must advocate for their children. Don't be afraid to get help from an advocate - who can be anybody who is willing to escort you to the school meetings!

R.T.
Markham, Ontario